Māori Ancestry Matters in Citizenship: A Response to ACT
The following article is a response to ACT MP Parmar's recent write-up in the Eastern Times, which can be found here.
To question whether ancestry should influence citizenship in Aotearoa is to question the very foundation of our nation.
Dr Parmjeet Parmar’s recent article argues for a race-neutral approach to citizenship, suggesting that ancestry should not determine who belongs in New Zealand. While this may sound fair in principle, it dangerously oversimplifies the complex and layered reality of identity, belonging, and justice in this country.
New Zealand is not just a modern democracy. It is a nation founded on a sacred agreement between Māori and the Crown, enshrined in Te Tiriti o Waitangi. This Treaty is not symbolic. It is a living constitutional document that affirms Māori as tangata whenua, the Indigenous people of this land, with rights and responsibilities that are distinct from those of other citizens. To suggest that ancestry should play no role in citizenship is to ignore the very basis of Māori identity and their enduring relationship with the state.
Citizenship is more than a legal status. It is a reflection of history, of whakapapa, and of the promises made and broken over generations. Māori ancestry is not a sentimental claim. It is a constitutional one. It carries with it obligations from the Crown and recognition of Indigenous sovereignty. Ignoring this context risks erasing the very foundations of our national identity.
Dr Parmar’s personal story as a migrant is compelling. Her experience of raising children in New Zealand who cannot claim Indian citizenship highlights the complexities of modern migration. But this experience cannot be used to flatten the diverse and layered histories that shape Aotearoa. New Zealand is not a blank canvas. It is a country with a colonial past, a Treaty-based present, and a future that must reckon with both.
Her call for sameness under the law promotes a one-size-fits-all model that risks silencing Indigenous voices and weakening the Treaty framework that holds this country together. Equality, in this context, cannot mean uniformity. It must mean equity, which recognises different histories, different rights, and different responsibilities.
Ancestry must matter. Not to divide, but to honour. It is through recognising whakapapa, Treaty obligations, and historical context that we build a society rooted in respect, not erasure.
If we are to move forward as a nation, we must do so not by forgetting where we come from, but by remembering who was here first and why that still matters. To build a just and inclusive future, we must first acknowledge the truths of our past.